Automatic railway-crossing



(No Model.)

D. L. -MGNAMARA- AUTOMATIG'RAILWAY CROSSING. No. 512,390. Patentsd Jan.9, 1894.

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. UNiTED STATES DANIEL L. MONAMARA, OF KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI.

PATENT EEICE AUTOMATIC RAILWAY-CROSSING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 512,390, dated January9, 1894.

Application filed .Tune 17, 1892.

.T all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, DANIEL L. MCNAMARA, a citizen of the United States,residing at Kansas City, in the county of Jackson, State of Missouri,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Railroad-Crossings, ofwhich the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, formingto a part hereof. y Y

My invention relates to improvements in automatic railroad crossings, inwhich movable sections of track are operated by levers and tumblingrods, which receive their motion from the ange of the car wheeloperating against the guide rails.

My obj ect is to provide and construct a railroad crossing which may beopened and closed by the passage of the locomotive, the wheels zo ofwhich come in contact with guard rails, thereby operating the tumblingrods, which l open and close the sections of track by means of theconnecting rods; and with this object in View, my invention consists inthe novel con- 2 5 struction of the track and mechanism illustratedinthe accompanying drawings, in which- Figure I. is a plan View of myadjustable, automatic railroad crossing, showing forth the improvements.Fig. II. is a sectional detail 3o View of the crossing rail. Fig. III.is a detail View of the bearing for the adjustable rails. Fig: IV. is adetail view in perspective of one of the bridle plates, to which the"bridle rods are attached. Fig. V. is a detail plan View 3 5 of mypreferred boxings and bearings for the gear wheels. Fig. VI. is a detailview in perspective of the inclined ratchet and base plate. Fig. VII. isa detail view in perspective of the inclined ratchet crown plate. Fig.

4c VIII. is a detail View in perspective ofthe keeper and plate whichhold the outer adjustable rail sections a, to the ties; and Fig.

IX. is a cross sectional View of same, showing it secured to the tie,with the rail in position.

Referring to the drawings by letter, A, represents a railroad track,which crosses a main track B. Said track A, is formed at the crossing ofthe adjustable sections c, c', ct, and

f these sections are operated by means of bridle 5o rods, tumbling rodsand gears, hereinafter described.

O, represents a tumbling rod which runs Serial No. L37,025. (No model.)

parallel with track A, and this rod is provided with a series of cranksc, to which are secured a series of bridle rods D, whose opposite endsare secured to the adjustable sections a, a', a, by means of bridleplate g, and hook G, shown lin Fig. IV.

c, are the crank ends of tumbling rod C,`on

Awhich operate the draw bars d', which oper- 6o ate the guard rails A.

c, are bearings located at intervals along tumbling rods C, E, to holdsame in place.

The adjustable sections of track a., c, are pivoted at their centers bya king-bolt N', 65 which passes through the base of keepers M, andthrough holes'n, in plates N, which rests in mortises cutin ties L,as-illustrated. Said keepers M, are made to lit around the flanges ofthe rails o, a, and are secured rigidly to 7o same by bolts m, which arescrewed or driven in holes m; then these keepers are secured to platesN, by king-bolts N', as seen in Fig. IX. and the plates are securedrigidly to ties by bolts which pass through holes n. The middle sectionsare secured to the ties by means of king-bolts which pass through the yrails and through the ratchet plates H, I-I, illustrated in Figs. VI.and VII., which, when thrown open, lower the rails a', so as'` to placeSo them out of reach of the pilot, and when closed, to form a continuoustrack, will raise them above the main track to the position shown inFig. II.

E, represents a tumbling rod laid parallel with track B, whoseextremities are formed into crankse, to which are' hinged rods E', andthis rod E, is operated by guard rails b, I). F, are balance weightssecured on tumbling rod C, and these weights are for the purpose 9o 'ofthrowing said tumbling rods entirely over,

should the guard rail fail to do so, and to hold them firmlyin positionuntil thrown back by a train approaching on the crossing track.

H, II', are metallic plates constructed with 95 a series of inclinedplanes 7i, 7i', and when said plates are secured together by placing thecrown plate H, on base plate I-I, the inclined planes h, h tit togetherclosely. These plates form turn tables for the sections of 10Q rail a',a', which, when thrown out of positi'on,

as illustratedrare on a level with the crossing track and are out of theway of the pilot of v the crossing engine; but when said sectionsV arethrown into position to form a continuous track, they are raised to theposition shown in Fig. II. by means of the inclined plane on plates I-I,Il', as hereinbefore described. Said plates H, I-l', are held rigidly tothe ties by means of b'olts passing through the track and the centerhole, and by smaller bolts, or spikes, through holes h".

I, are metallic bearing plates which form stopsand supports for themovable sections of track, and these stops may be secured to the ilangeof the rail, as shown in Fig. II., or may be bolted to the cross ties.When bolted to the flange of the rail, it must be bent out from saidrail, so as to permit the iiange of the wheels to pass between saidbearings and rail, Without striking.

J, are wedge bearings on which sections a, a', a" rest when in position.These Wedges are so constructed as to raise the adjustable sections to asuicient height above the main track to permit the engine and train topass overwithout allowing the Wheels to touch said main track.

K, are beveled gear wheels secured on tumbling rods E, and these gearsmesh with a corresponding beveled gear K', secured on tumbling rod C,and these transmit the power from one rod tothe other, so that all thelevers, rods, the., operate simultaneously. The bearing and boxing forthese gears I prefer to construct, as illustrated in Fig. IV., thoughany substantial bearing may be used.

It will be seen that this crossing is operated autoniatically,-by meansot' locomotives or trains passing on the tracks A, or B. In theaccompanying drawings I .have illustrated my im provementto show thecross track open. New, as the train approaches on said open track, theangcs of the drive wheels come between rails A, and guard rails A',forcing the latter out, thereby throwing the tumbling rod C, and forminga continuous track over the main trackkand at the same time throwingguard rails b, b, against main rails B, Where they remain until thrownopen by a train passing on said main track.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

An adjustable, automatic railroad crossing; the keepers M, and plates N,which secure the adjustable sections to the ties; the adj ustablesections a, ct', a."; the tuinblingrods C, E, operated by guard rails'A'b; the gears K, K', which cause said tumbling rods to operatesimultaneously; and the adjusting ratchet bearing-plates I-I, H', all incombination,for the purposes set forth and described.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

DANIEL Il. MCNAMARA.

